5 Black Tea Side Effects You Should Be Aware Of

5 Black Tea Side Effects You Should Be Aware OfShruti GoenkaSeptember 21, 2017

Thinking of evading boredom and gaining energy, the word ‘tea’ pops up in your mind. After water, tea is possibly the second most popular drink in the world. Today, there are different types of teas available in the market – granular, leaf, lemon tea, black tea, brick tea and even tea bags. Black tea consists of the different ingredients – caffeine, fluoride, glucuronic and lactic acid, manganese, potassium, tannin, purines, xanthine and gallic esters. When black tea first came into the market in 1827, it was considered to be a new substance and people called it theine. Its effects were quite identical to coffee and contained the same components as in coffee; since then, the word theine was given up.

For those who need to stay up late, a cup of black tea is a good thing to opt for. It accelerates the reaction time and boosts your alertness or overall concentration. This increase in alertness is the direct consequence of the stimulation of the respiratory and cardiac systems of the body; this enhances the circulation of oxygen in your body. It’s also effective in losing excessive weight. Controlling your regular appetite, it’ll curb your tendency to eat more in your daily life. What’s more, it’s an excellent way to keep away cancer. Nevertheless, excessive consumption of black tea results in a lot of side effects.

Dieticians constantly warn against excessive consumption of caffeine as they cause undesirable side-effects like insomnia, breathing troubles and increased pulse rate. Here are a few common side effects of black tea intake in excess.

Black Tea Side Effects

1. Diarrhoea:

Caffeine is the basic ingredient of black tea; so, if you consume it on a daily basis, it can result in diarrhoea. The reason behind this is that caffeine stimulates your digestive system. Therefore, if you drink this tea in excess, it can have a negative effect on your heath. What’s more, it has a direct effect on your central nervous system and makes you feel nervous at little incidents. Consuming black tea in huge doses can result in digestive issues, insomnia, varicose veins and palpitations. In short, it excites your nervous system (1).

2. Constipation:

Well, this is something unexpected but it happens. The reason behind this is that black tea consists of tannins. The presence of this substance help your body store precipitate and offers other health benefits as well. Nevertheless, excessive consumption of black tea can cause constipation in your body. The reason behind this is that your body starts storing a lot of waste products (2).

3. Disturbed stomach:

As said earlier, black tea contains caffeine; so, once these elements reach your stomach, it causes your stomach to produce various acidic substances, which are not easy for your body to absorb. Thus, your stomach starts feeling uneasy or uncomfortable. What’s more, if you’re a patient suffering from stomach ulcer or cancer, black tea is a strict no (3).

4. Cardiovascular diseases:

Black tea is highly restricted for patients recovering from heart attacks or acute cardiovascular disorders – paroxysmal tachycardia or cardiac asthma being the most common of them all. Caffeine is highly prohibited or undesirable for your cardiovascular system (4). It is also contradicted for people with gastritis or gastric ulcers – both takes place due to increased acidity.

5. Other health hazards:

According to health professionals, pregnant women should not drink more than two cups of black tea in a day. Since black tea is loaded with caffeine, it increases the hazards of miscarriage (5). This high caffeine content can also have a negative effect on people with cardiovascular disorders, glaucoma, high blood pressure and anxiety disorders. In comparison to other types of teas, black tea is loaded with the maximum caffeine content and is possibly due to the way it’s processed.

These are the black tea benefits and side effects. Hope the article was informative. So, please keep in mind the dark side of black tea the next time you crave for a black tea. However, limited consumption of black tea provides a lot of benefits.